Sand-wheel toy.



No. 798,883. PATENTED SEPT. 5, 1905. H. I. DBDRIGK. SAND WHEEL TOY.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 27.1904.

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H. I. DEDRIGK.

SAND WHEEL TOY.

APPLICATION nun snr'r. 21.1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

"WITNI'ESSESI 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT @EEICE.

SAND-WHEEL TOY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1905.

Application filed September 27,1904. Serial No. 226,114.

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lie it known that I. HARvnY IRVINGION l.)no1:1cx. a citizen of the United States. and a resident of \Yatervliet, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Sand-\Vheel Toy, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to a sand-wheel toy.

Sandwheels have heretofore been proposed as toys; but they have been so constructed that the movement of the sand could not be seen, and consequently. such toys were exceedingly liable to be destroyed by the children using them on account of their curiosity to see the interior. These sand-wheels have also been provided with defective valves and bearings into which the sand could penetrate.

The objects of my invention are to avoid the above-mentioned defects by providing a sand-wheel toy so arranged that all the working parts thereof, as well as the movement of the sand, can be observed from the outside, providing bearings with effective means for excluding the sand while presenting a minimum friction, providing an efficient valve which will prevent the wheel from becoming clogged with sand, and providing a construction which will be simple and cheap and not liable to get out of repair.

Further objects of the invention will appear in the course of the subjoined description.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference ind icate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a practical embodiment of my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 parallel to the front face of the toy.

11 represents a box which may be constructed of pasteboard, wood, or any other suitable material. It is provided with a front face 12, of glass or other transparent material, and it is preferably sealed around the edges of the glass by means of paper or other strips 13. The general design of the device is on the plan of an hour-glass, with sand-hoppers 1 1 at its opposite ends. These sand hoppers are formed by two strips of flexible material-as, for example, pasteboard, (represented by the numerals l5 and 16.) Each of these strips is provided with a pair of parallel slits 17, extending half-way through each strip. Each of these slits is wide enough to permit the passage of the other strip, and consequently when the two strips are placed as indicated in the figures, with one strip passing through the slits in the other strip, the bottoms of the two hoppers will be formed by the ends of the two strips, and there will be a place between them forming a chamber 18. In this chamber a sand-wheel 15) is placed. This sand-wheel is provided with vanes 20, all inclined in the same direction with respect to the circumference of the wheel. The wheel is mounted upon a shaft 21, and this shaft is preferably fixedly mounted in a partition 22, extending entirely across the chamber 18. The end of the shaft 21 comes to within a short distance of the inner face of the glass cover 12, and upon the outer face of the wheel is preferably mounted a paper or other sheet of material 24:, which is rounded at 25, so as to come into contact with the face of the glass cover. This assists in supporting the wheel and keeping the shaft in its place. Further more, it does away with the necessity of an additional bearing at the end of the shaft.

hiounted upon the side of the wheel 1.) is shown a pulley 26, over which passes a belt 27, operating in turn a second pulley 28 on a shaft 29, located at any convenient point in the box. The belt passes through casings 30 in the walls of the chamber 18. These casings project inwardly toward the wheel to prevent the entrance of sand therein. be crossed, and in this case only one casing would be necessary, and it will be obvious that the shaft .29 can be located at any desired point and that it may be connected up in any manner with mechanism for producing any desired effects. A

A packing 23, of yarn or similar material, is preferably wound about the shaft 21 and secured in any suitable manneras, for instance, by glueto the side of thepulley 26.

The sand is directed into the chamber 18 from the hoppers 11 by means of passages 31 and is kept at the entrance ends of said pas sages by means of sloping rear walls 32. It will be readily seen that on account of these walls and the walls formed by the ends of the strips 15 and 16 the hoppers 1a are so shaped that the sand will be normally directed to their lowest points namely, those in the vicinity of the passages 31. Consequently all the sand in each hopper will be readily discharged through its bottom passage upon the wheel 19 below. it will be seen that the vanes 20 of the wheel are so arranged that upon the The belt may dropping of the sand at a point a little to the left of the center, as indicated in Fig. 3, the weight of the sand will cause the wheel to revolve and also the impact of the sand will have the same tendency. If the whole box is inverted, the dropping of the sand from the hopper which is then uppermost will rotate the wheel in the same direction and the box can be reversed without changing the direction of rotation of the wheel. For the purpose of facilitating this effect the passages 31 are each placed at a point slightly to the right of the central line of the wheel when in the position for discharging onto the wheel.

It will be apparent that with the parts constructed as indicated above the sand might clog in the chamber 18 and stop the wheel. For the purpose of preventing this the passages 31 are made'larger than is necessary in order to cause the sand passing through them to operate the wheel, and they are provided with gravity-valves 33. Each of these valves is provided with a perforation 36L considerably smaller than the passages 31. These valves are preferably hinged or pivoted at the back, as indicated at 35, and are provided with stops 36, so that in the upper hopper the valve will be forced by gravity toa closed position, so that the sand can pass through the opening 34 only; but in the lower hopper the valve will be forced by gravity to an open position and the sand will have the diameter of the passage 31 in which to escape. The rear portion of the chamber 18 is preferably sealed by a piece of sheet material 39, and a packing formed of yarn or other soft material is provided between the glass and the other portions of the box. That between the glass and the outer walls is numbered 40 and that between the glass and the strips 15 and 16 is numbered 41.

It will be readily understood that when the box is stood upon one end the wheel will be caused to rotate by the falling of the sand until the upper hopper is entirely empty and that upon reversing the box the wheel will be caused to continue to rotate in the same direction as long as any sand remains in the hopper which is then uppermost. It will also be readily understood that two or more figures or Wheels of any desired character can be connected with the sand-wheel and driven thereby.

It will be evident that by constructing the toy upon the principle set forth above all the above-mentioned advantages will be obtained and that it is a great improvement over the devices known in the art.

While I have illustrated and described a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be obvious that it is not strictly limited thereto, but that many modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention. I

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a toy, the combination of asand-wheel, a receptacle having a passage leading to a point above the wheel, and a gravity-valve for the passage, said valve having a perforation of smaller area than the passage.

2. In a toy, the combination of a sand-wheel. a receptacle having a passage leading to a point above the wheel, a hinged valve located above the passage and provided with a perforation of smaller area than the passage, and a stop located at the rear of said hinged valve.

3. In a toy, the combination of a sand-wheel, a hopper having a passage leading to a point above the wheel, and a stationary shaft upon which said wheel is rotatably mounted, said shaft being provided with a packing of yarn rotatable with the wheel.

4. In a toy, the combination of a sand-hopper. a receptacle having passages through its wall, a sand-wheel in said receptacle, said hopper having a passage leading to a point above the wheel, a stationary shaft upon which said wheel is rotatably mounted, a pulley mounted rigidly with respect to said wheel, a second shaft, and a belt passing from the pulley to said second shaft through the passages in the wall of said receptacle.

5. The combination of a sand-hopper, a receptacle having passages through its wall, a sand-wheel in said receptacle, said hopper having a passage leading to a point above the wheel, a shaft upon which said wheel is mounted, a pulley mounted to turn with the wheel, a second shaft, and a belt passing from the pulley to said second shaft through said passages.

6. The combination with a box, of two strips located therein, each having two slits extending part way across and assembled so as to cross each other on the lines on which said slits are located, whereby two receptacles are formed at the ends of the slits and a third between them, said strips having passages between each of said receptacles and another one, a cover over all of said receptacles, and a packing between the cover and said strips.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HARVEY IRVINGTON DEDRICK.

Witnesses:

GEO. A. CRARY, ASA V. GILBERT, Jr. 

